MORE than £1.5 million was spent by BCP Council as it laid off dozens of employees in the last year, new figures show.

The Local Government Association said councils across the country have been forced to reduce their workforce sizes due to budget cuts despite dramatic increases in the volume and range of services provided.

Figures provided by BCP Council to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, show 54 people were laid off by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council in 2021-22 at an average of £28,240 per person.

It meant the council paid a total of £1,525,000 in exit packages last year, up from £1,185,000 in 2020-21.

Andrew Western, chairman of the LGA's resources board, said councils have made layoffs in order to manage their budgets and avoid further pressure on taxpayers.

He added: "Without funding from the Government to meet the pressure of an accelerating National Living Wage on top of soaring energy and other costs, more redundancies are likely, exacerbating the capacity crisis that is already acute in some areas and impacting the delivery of services to the public.”

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “We are embarking upon a transformation journey that started with Local Government Reform (LGR) where multiple teams were brought together into a large unitary council to deliver services across the conurbation more efficiently and effectively without impacting on service delivery.

“BCP Council continues to invest in data and technology to improve the effectiveness of the services that it delivers which will result in further reduction to the workforce.

“We have been transparent about this direction of travel and ensure to engage and consult with the workforce and wider stakeholders in the appropriate manner when these transformation milestones are reached.”

Local figures on payments to senior and other staff are not available to protect individuals' identities.

Ian Miller, honorary secretary of the Association of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers, said exit payments are determined by staff's actual salary and time of service, meaning senior staff tend to have higher packages.